Shakespeare and Company is an independent English bookstore in Paris, located opposite Notre Dame.
The ground floor consists of a bookshop, and the first floor a library with a piano. It was opened by George Whitman in 1951, an American born in Massachusetts in 1912, who famously cuts his hair with a candle.
It invites young writers, poets and artists to lodge in the bookshop in exchange for 2 hours work in the shop a day and the promise to read one book for everyday they stay. Beds scatter the shop - displaying books during the day, and sleeping guests at night.
It specialises in Beat literature, and fiction from the Lost Generation. It opens from noon to midnight and is located at 37 rue de la Bûcherie, near Place St. Michel.
